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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins, who led the SEC in rushing as a freshman, didn’t receive a scholarship offer to play football at Alabama.
But he does own a car he bought at one of Alabama coach Nick Saban’s dealerships.
Judkins told ESPN on Thursday that he purchased his Mercedes, a new one, last year at Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham, which is co-owned by Saban. Judkins, who is from Pike Road, Alabama, purchased a white Benz and said he didn’t know that Saban had a stake in the dealership the first time he went to look for cars.
“It was the second time when I bought it and met his son,” Judkins said. “He told me he was Coach Saban’s son.”
Nicholas Saban is the assistant general manager/sales manager at Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham, which has two campuses in the Birmingham area in Hoover and Irondale. Nick Saban also is part owner of a Mercedes dealership and a recently opened Ferrari dealership in Nashville, Tennessee.
Judkins laughed when asked if it was only right that he picked out a car from one of Saban’s dealerships given the Crimson Tide whiffed on him during the recruiting process.
“Nah, it’s all good. They signed a lot of great players,” Judkins said. “I’m right where I want to be at Ole Miss and got the car I wanted.”
Judkins re-signed his NIL deal with The Grove Collective last December but said he bought the car before signing that deal. Judkins said he had inquiries from other schools about transferring after his freshman season but added, “I never thought about leaving my school.”
Judkins rushed for 1,567 yards last season, the second most by an SEC freshman behind only Herschel Walker, who had 1,616 yards in 1980.